Dodgers vs. Padres score: L.A. starts postseason with victory, holding off San Diego in NLDS Game 1

The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres, 5-3, Tuesday night in Dodger Stadium to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five NLDS. 

Here’s everything you need to know on the game and then the series moving forward. 

Turner set the tone early

Despite a five-day layoff after a first-round bye, it didn’t take long for the Dodgers to get on the board. Trea Turner, the second batter in the bottom of the first, got things started with a no-doubt homer to left. 

The 419-footer was just the beginning. Will Smith would double and then score on a Max Muncy single. The Dodgers got three hits and a walk in the first inning of Padres starter Mike Clevinger. 

Clevinger would end up lasting just 2 2/3 innings. He gave up five runs on six hits and the biggest problem was five of those hits were for extra bases. Trea Turner added a double to his homer. Smith doubled twice. Gavin Lux had an RBI double. 

The Dodgers were in complete control. 

Urías deals early, runs into problems, is pulled

Dodgers starter Julio Urías, the NL ERA leader in the regular season, was dominant for four innings. He didn’t allow a hit until there were two outs in the third. He faced only one over the minimum through four scoreless innings. 

In the fifth, though, the Padres made this a game again. Wil Myers led off with a home run. Jake Cronenworth singled and Ha-seong Kim doubled before a pair of productive outs trimmed the Dodgers lead to 5-3. 

And though Urías had only thrown 79 pitches, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts elected to go to his bullpen with Evan Phillips taking over for the sixth. 

The Padres made it interesting

After the Padres closed the gap from 5-0 to 5-3, they got the first two runners on base in the sixth against Phillips. Juan Soto, who walks more often than anyone else in baseball, drew a walk to start the inning. Manny Machado had an excuse-me hit, as he knocked a dribbler down the third-base line that the Dodgers defenders tried to let roll foul. It stayed fair and Machado had his infield hit. 

There were now two runners on with no out in a two-run game. The Padres had trimmed the Dodgers’ win expectancy from 95 percent to 65 percent. Josh Bell came to the plate with a chance to do some major damage. Instead, he struck out. 

Myers then hit the ball very hard (100.1 miles per hour), but it was right at second baseman Gavin Lux. Lux corralled it and the Dodgers were able to turn a double play to end the threat. 

It was one of those moments that seemed like the game hung in the balance and it went the Dodgers’ way. 

Martin closes for Dodgers

There was great interest to how the Dodgers put their bullpen together in close games heading into this game. Craig Kimbrel was the closer for most of the season, but the Dodgers removed him from the role late in the season — when the division was essentially already over — and he’s not even on the NLDS roster. 

Evan Phillips worked the sixth. Alex Vesia got the seventh and then the first two outs of the eighth. Brusdal Graterol was summoned to get Manny Machado, and he did — though it was a deep flyout that wasn’t too far from a home run — and then Chris Martin got the final three outs for the save. 

This doesn’t necessarily mean it’s how the Dodgers will work every close game, but it’s possible Phillips and Vesia serve as “put out the fire” guys while Graterol and Martin are around for late-inning work. 

These are likely their top four relievers, though, that much seems clear. 

The Dodgers still own the Padres

The Padres have the opportunity this series to turn the tide and flip the narrative on its head, but this just isn’t a rivalry at present. The Dodgers won the regular-season series 14-5 and outscored the Padres by 62, more than doubling them up at 109-47. 

The Dodgers went 12-7 against the Padres last year. In 2020, it was 6-4 Dodgers in the regular season but then 3-0 Dodgers in the playoffs. In 2019, it was 13-6 Dodgers. The Padres haven’t had a winning record against the Dodgers since 2010. 

Next: Game 2 Wednesday

They’ll face off again in Dodger Stadium for Game 2 on Wednesday at 8:37 p.m. ET. 

Yu Darvish (16-8, 3.10) gets the ball for the Padres. He was brilliant in the Wild Card Series against the Mets, allowing just one run on six hits in seven innings of work. He faced the Dodgers four times this season, pitching to a 2.52 ERA and 0.92 WHIP, though that was only good enough for a split with each team winning two of those games. 

Clayton Kershaw (12-3, 2.28) will start for the Dodgers. As everyone knows by now, the narrative that Kershaw can’t pitch in the playoffs still persists. He’s 13-12 with a 4.19 ERA in his postseason career. He faced the Padres twice this year and posted a 0.75 ERA and 0.75 WHIP in 12 innings.